FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

 GAME DESIGN GURU JESSE SCHELL TO KEYNOTE 11th ANNUAL SIEGE OCT. 6

“Climbing Your Skill Tree" Is Theme for Game Development Conference

 ATLANTA, GEORGIA – (June 6, 2017) – The Georgia Game Developers Association announced today that award-winning game developer Jesse Schell, author of “The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses,” will keynote the Association’s 11th annual Southern Interactive Entertainment and Game Expo (www.siegecon.net). Schell also runs Schell Games (www.schellgames.com), whose “I Expect You To Die” virtual reality game has been one of the most acclaimed VR games yet released.

“Schell’s focus on educational games has been only one of his successful innovations,” said Andrew Greenberg, SIEGE conference director. “His games go far beyond what most people expect in a game. It is no wonder that his work has been nominated for awards as diverse as our industry D.I.C.E awards, an Emmy, and even a Gold Parents’ Choice Award.”

Schell began his career at Walt Disney Imagineering, working on theme parks, video games and massively multiplayer games. He started Schell Games in 2002, and his studio now employees more than 100 people working on a diverse array of titles. Their clients range from Facebook to Legendary to Yale University, all attracted by their versatility and willingness to innovate.

“Running a game studio is wonderfully fulfilling, but it is not without its challenges,” said Schell. “The skills needed to manage a company are not necessarily the ones needed to develop a successful game. I look forward to sharing with SIEGE attendees some basic principles to help anyone become a better leader within a game studio.”

Taking place in Atlanta, SIEGE is the largest professional game development conference in the Southern United States. Since 2007, SIEGE has featured leading figures from the industry and has hosted panels reflecting a wide spectrum of the game production industry, including artists, programmers, designers, investors, writers, teachers and business executives. The event also showcases a College Fair for high school students and a Game Studio Investment Conference.

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